Snow thrower with rotatable snow spout

ABSTRACT

A snow auger rotates within a horizontal housing and has throwers which discharge snow out of an opening in the top of the housing. A cylindrical snow conduit is attached to the housing around the snow discharge opening and a snow-directing spout with a downwardly-projecting cylindrical collar is swivelingly attached around the snow conduit in overlapping relationship with the latter. A plurality of dimples are formed in the cylindrical collar in the area where it overlaps the snow conduit to space the two members sufficiently apart to prevent particles of foreign matter from lodging therebetween to interfere with swiveling. A spindle is rotatably attached to the housing and a cable has spaced portions wound around the spindle and extending in diverging relationship therefrom to pass around the cylindrical collar for causing swiveling of the latter. A member including a pair of spaced parallel arms is mounted for movement parallel to the axis of the spindle and engages the spaced cable portions to prevent improper winding of the cable around the spindle.

[ May 7,1974

[ SNOW THROWER WITH ROTATABLE SNOW SPOUT [76] Inventor: Joseph Haban,Mound & Marquette Sts., Racine, Wis. 53404 [22] Filed: Aug. 11, 1972[21] Appl. No.: 279,924

[52] US. Cl. 37/43 R, 302/34,'242/l57.1,

302/61, 138/113 [51] Int. Cl E0lh 5/00 [58] Field of Search 37/41-43,12;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 656,679 8/1900 Sweet 302/103,273,942 9/1966 McFarland... 302/34 X 3,512,116 6/1950 Siebels 138/1132,634,759 4/1953 Twickler l 138/113 1,400,658 12/1921 Brown 302/343,648,978 3/1972 Ratcliff 242/157 R 3,262,742 7/1966 Sipe et a1. 302/34FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 652,425 11/1962 Canada 37/43 R 634,4852/1962 ltaly 6,607,982 12/1967 Netherlands 302/34 573,383 3/1959 Canada37/43 D Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey AssistantExaminer-Eugene'1-I. Eickholt Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Arthur L.Morsell, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A snow auger rotates within a horizontal housing and hasthrowers which discharge snow out of an opening in the top of thehousing. A cylindrical snow conduit is attached to the housing aroundthe snow discharge opening and a snow-directing spout with adownwardly-projecting cylindrical collar is swivelingly attached aroundthe snow conduit in overlapping relationship with the latter. Aplurality of dimples are formed in the cylindrical collar in the areawhere it overlaps the snow conduit to space the two members sufficientlyapart to prevent particles of foreign matter from lodging therebetweento interfere with swiveling. A spindle is rotatably attached to thehousing and a cable has spaced portions wound around the spindle andextending in diverging relationship therefrom to pass around thecylindrical collar for causing swiveling of the latter. A memberincluding a pair of spaced parallel arms is mounted for movementparallel to the axis of the spindle and engages the spaced cableportions to prevent improper winding of the cable around the spindle.

5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures msmmm 1:924 3.808715 I SHEET 1 (IF 2PATENTEDIIAY 1 2974 SHEET 2 [)F 2 SNOW THROWER WITH ROTATABLE SNOW SPOUTBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to snow throwers ofthe type having a snow-directing conduit system in which a cylindricalcollar is swivelingly attached around a cylindrical snow conduit inoverlapping relationship with the latter. This swivel connection is usedfor the purpose of turning a snow-directing spout which is attached tothe end of the cylindrical collar.

In the past, difficulties have arisen in such snow throwers due to thefact that sand and other particles sometimes are picked up along withthe snow and become lodged in the relatively small space between thecylindrical snow conduit and cylindrical collar where they overlap. Thiscauses the swivel connection between the two members to bind and makesit difficult or impossible to turn the snow-directing spout.

Another difficulty with the prior art snow throwers relates to the meansfor causing the snow-directing spout to rotate. This function isperformed by means of a manually-controlled rotatable spindle and acable which is wrapped around the spindle and extends around thecylindrical collar attached to the snowdirecting spout. Amanually-operated crank rod is coupled to the rotatable spindle. Whenthe spindle is ro-. tated by the crank rod, the cables cause thecylindrical collar to swivel, which adjusts the direction of thesnow-directing spout attached thereto.

When the spindle is rotated, one portion of the cable winds itself up onthe spindle and the opposing portion of the cable unwinds. When thedirection of spindle rotation is reversed, the winding action of thecable reverses itself. In the past, difficulty has been experiencedbecause the portion of the cable which was being wound up often becameunevenly or improperly wound, i.e. instead of being evenly spaced alongthe spindle, the cable winding became objectionably overlapped orotherwise wound in a troublesome manner. This placed a strain on themechanism, which tended to cause the spindle to bind and also tended tointerfere with the swiveling adjustment of the chute.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, theabove-noted difficulty with respect to foreign matter becoming lodgedbetween the cylindrical collar and the cylindrical snow conduit isovercome by providing spacing means between the overlapping portions ofthe collar and conduit of such size as to space the two memberssufficiently apart to prevent particles from lodging thereinbetween.This allows the particles to drop between the two members withoutbecoming lodged between them.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the spacing means is aplurality of flat dimples formed in one of the two-cylindrical membersin the area where they overlap. The dimples are preferably arranged intwo axially-spaced rows and also serve as bearing surfaces for theswivel connection between the two cylindrical members.

The above-noted difficulty with respect to the cable being improperlywound around the spindle is over come by providing a cable controlmember including a pair of spaced parallel arms mounted adjacent to thespindle for movement parallel to the axis of the spindle. The spacedparallel arms engage the portions of the cable which extend from thespindle and prevent the cable portions from becoming improperly wound onthe spindle. In the preferred embodiment, the spaced parallel arms arepart of a U-shaped bracket which is slideably mounted in slots in ahousing that supports and partially surrounds the spindle.

Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide an improved snowthrower of the type having a snow-directing conduit system in which onecylindrical member is swivelingly attached to another.

Another object of this invention is to provide a snow thrower of theabove-described type having spacing means incorporated in the swivelconnection between the two cylindrical members thereof to preventparticles from loding thereinbetween.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved cable driveapparatus for rotating the spout of a fan, useful in any type of fanwith a saddle; and particularly in a conventional snow thrower, or in atwo stage unit.

An additional object of the invention is to provide winding controlmeans to prevent improper winding of the cable in the cable driveapparatus of a snow thrower of the above-described type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of oneillustrative snow thrower of this invention attached to the front of asmall tractor to be operated thereby;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the snow-directing spout and cable apparatus forturning the snow-directing spout of the embodiment of the inventionshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partially in section, of the swivelconnection between the cylindrical collar and snow conduit portion ofthe embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; j

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the rotatable spindle and cable forthe snow spout turning apparatus of the embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 1through 4, parts being broken away and shown in section; and

FIG. 6 is an end view of the spindle, cable-and spindle housing shown inFIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 shows one illustrativeembodiment of the invention attached to the front of a small tractor.This embodiment of the invention includes a snow auger 10 which isjournalled within a housing 12 and is rotated therewithin by asuitablepower source. As the auger 10 rotates, it forces snow inwardlyfrom both sides toward the center of the housing 12 and then throws thesnow upwardly through a snow discharge opening 14 (see FIG. 2) which isformed in the top of the housing 12. A cylindrical snow conduit 16 isattached to the housing 12 around the snow discharge opening 14 andextends upwardly therefrom. A snow-directing spout I8 is swivelinglyattached to the snow conduit 16 by means of a collar 20 which projectsdownwardly from the snow-directing spout l8 and overlaps the upperportion of the snow conduit 16. The snow-directing spout 18 is made ofseveral sections and is arcuate in shape so as to direct the snow in anarcuate path toward either side of the housing 12, or in any desireddirection, depending upon the rotary orientation of the collar 20.

FIG. 3 shows the swivel connection between snow conduit 16 and collar20. A ring 22 is welded to the outer surface of the snow conduit 16 forsupporting a shoulder 24 which is formed in the lower end of the collar'and rides upon the top surface of the ring 22. A skirt 26 dependsdownwardly from the shoulder 24, and four bolts 28 pass through openingsin the skirt 26 and extend below the ring 22 to keep the collar 20 frombeing lifted over the ring 22.

In the past, difficulty has been encountered in having sand or similarparticles drop down between the snow conduit 16 and collar 20 and lodgethereinbetween, thereby interfering with the swiveling motion of thecollar 20 about the conduit 16. Such interference is prevented in thisinvention by providing spacing means between the snow conduit 16 and thecollar 20 of such size as to space the collar sufficiently apart fromthe conduit 16 to prevent particles from lodging thereinbetween. In thisparticular embodiment of the invention, the spacing means comprisesdimples 30 which are formed by external indentations in the collar 20,the dimples projecting inwardly a predetermined distance which issubstantially larger than the dimensions of the sand or other particlesthat might be picked up by the snow thrower. The dimples 30 have flatbottoms 32 which bear against the outer surface of the snow conduit 16without appreciable friction due to their relatively small area. Thedimples 30 are spaced at approximately thirty degree intervals aroundthe inner periphery of the collar 20 and are arranged in two axiallyspaced rows, one row engaging the conduit 16 near the top of the area inwhich it is overlapped by the collar spacing between the cylindricalsnow conduit 16 and the cylindrical collar 20 and allow the sand orother particles to drop down to a safe position without becoming wedgedbetween the conduit 16 and the collar With the spacing means of thisinvention, any sand or other particulate matter that drops down betweenthe snow conduit 16 and the cylindrical collar 20 falls down and iscaught by the ring 22. If a small amount of sand or particulate matterfalls through the space provided by this invention, it merely rests outof the way against the upper inner surface of the ring 22. If the sandorparticulate material accumulates on top of the ring 22, the motion ofthe shoulder 24 eventually works the particulate material out of anopening 34 in the ring 22.

In some embodiments of the invention, the snowdirecting spout 18 may bemanually rotatable, but in the disclosed embodiment of the invention,the snowdirecting spout 18 is rotated by a cable 36 which extends aroundthe cylindrical collar 20 and is looped at its end portions over a bolt38 (see FIG. 4) which is attached to the collar 20. The looped ends ofthe cable 36 which fit around the bolt 38 are secured by metallicsleeves 40. When the 'cable 36 is moved in one direction or the other,it applies a rotary force to the cylindrical collar 20 through bolt 38and causes it to swivel around the snow conduit 16, thereby rotating thesnow discharge spout 18.

The other end of the cable 36 is wrapped around a spindle 42 (see FIG.5) which is rotatably secured within a spindle housing 44. Housing 44has an end member 46 welded to its lower end. End member 46 has a slottherein which is not shown in the drawings for admitting a bolt 48 inorder to bolt the housing 44 to a bracket 50 (see FIG. 1) which isattached to the housing 12 opposite the cylindrical collar 20. The bolt48 and nut 49 hold the housing 44 in position against bracket 50. Thehousing 44 is open on one side and closed on the other side. A roundpartition 52 is welded to the interior of the housing 44 to rotatablysupport the spindle 42. A hollow cylindrical spacer 54 extends throughthe partition 52 and is welded thereto. The spacer 54 rotatably receivesan eye bolt 56 through the center thereof and the spindle 42 rotatesaround the outer portion of the spacer 54. The eye bolt 56 is rotatablysecured to the end of the spacer 54 by means of a flat washer 58, aconical washer 60, and a nut 62. At the other end of the spindleassembly, the spindle 42 is pinched down at 64 to rigidly engage the eye66 of the eye bolt 56. The eye 66 of eye bolt 56 is also engaged by ahook 68 which is formed in the end of a crank rod 70 (see FIG. 1). Thecrank rod 70 is supported by a bracket 72 on the tractor shown in FIG. 1and has a handle 74 for being manually turned thereby. When the handle74 is rotated, the crank rod 70 and hook 68 rotate, which in turnrotates the eye bolt 56 and the spindle 42.

The cable 36 is passed through an opening 76 in spindle 42 (see FIG. 5)and is wrapped around the spindle 42 on both sides of the opening 76.Portions of the cable 36 extend from spindle 42 in divergingrelationship, as best shown in FIG. 2, extending around the cylindricalcollar 20, and engaging the bolt 38 therein. As the spindle 42 rotates,one portion of the cable 36 which is wound around the spindle 42 windsup, and the other portion of the cable 36 which is wound around thespindle 42 unwinds. When the direction of rotation of the spindle 42 isreversed, the action of the cable portions is reversed. In thepast,difficulty has been encountered with respect to the cable portion whichis being wound up. This cable portion had a tendency to overlap turns ofthe winding and otherwise wind improperly and thus put tension in thecable 36 which tended to cause the rotatable connection of the spindle42 to bind and interfere with the swiveling of the cylindrical sleeve20. In accordance with this invention, however, this drawback isovercome in a simple manner by providing a cable control member having aU-shaped member 78 with spaced parallel arms 80 which is slideablymounted in slots 82 cut in housing member 44. The arms 80 extendtransversely to the axis of spindle 42 and are movable parallel thereto.The U-shaped member 78 is secured within the slots 82 by means of a tiebar 84 which extends between the ends of the arms 80 and has openingstherein for engaging the ends of the arms 80. The tie bar 84 isadjustably pressed against the sides of the housing 44 by means of nuts86. t

The slots 82 in housing 44 are positioned so as to provide slidingmovement of the parallel arms 80 in a direction parallel to the axis ofthe spindle 42. The sliding movement is caused by the cable 36 engagingone of the arms 80 and pushing against it. The nuts 86 on the ends ofthe arms 80 adjust the amount of pressure that is required to move thearms 80.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that this inventionprovides an improved snow thrower, an improved swivel connection for thesnow-directing spout thereof, and an improved cable drive apparatus forrotating the snow-directing spout. And, although this invention has beendescribed in connection with one illustrative embodiment thereof, itshould be understood that the invention is by no means limited to thedisclosed embodiment, since many modifications can be made in thedisclosed structure without changing its fundamental principles ofoperation. For example, although the rotatable spindle 42 has beendisclosed as being driven by a hook 68 which engages an eye bolt 66, itwill be clear to those skilled in the art that many other mechanicalconnections are possible for linking the rotatable crank arm 70 to thespindle 42. This and other modifications of the invention will beapparent to those skilled in the art, and this invention includes allsuch modifications that fall within the scope of the following claims.

l claim:

1. In a snow thrower of the type having a horizontal auger housingprovided with a top snow discharging opening, said housing having acylindrical snow conduit attached thereto around said opening and havinga snow-directing spout with a downwardly projecting cylindrical collarswivelingly attached around said cylindrical snow conduit, and having aspindle rotatably mounted on said housing and having spaced cableportions wound in opposite directions on said spindle and extending indiverging relationship therefrom to pass around said cylindrical collarfor swiveling the latter in response to rotation of the spindle, theimprovement comprising a control member including a pair of spacedparallel arms adjacent to said spindle positioned so that said spacedcable portions pass between said parallel arms, said control memberbeing mounted for movement parallel to the axis of the spindle inresponse to winding of said cable around said spindle to control saidwinding.

2. A snow thrower as defined in claim 1 wherein said spindle isrotatably mounted in a spindle housing which is attached to saidhorizontal auger housing, said spindle housing being open on one sideand closed on the other side, there being a plurality of slots cut insaid spindle housing near the open side thereof for receiving andguiding said spaced parallel arms, said spaced parallel arms beingmovably engaged in said slots, and said slots being orientedsubstantially parallel with the axis of said spindle.

3. A snow thrower as defined in claim 2 wherein said spaced parallelarms comprise the parallel arm portions of a U-shaped member, the endsof said U-shaped member being threaded to receive nuts, the threadedends of said U-shaped member being engaged in two of said slots, a nutscrewed onto each threaded end of said U-shaped member, and said nutsbeing pretensioned to provide a predetermined amount of drag to themovement of said parallel arms within said slots.

4. A snow thrower as defined in claim 3 and further comprising a tie barextending between the threaded ends of said U-shaped member andpositioned between said nuts and the exterior surface of said spindlehousing, said tie bar being pressed against the exterior surface of saidspindle housing by said nuts so as to provide a predetermined amount ofdrag to the movement of said parallel arms within said slots.

5. In a snow thrower of the type having a horizontal auger housingprovided with a top snow discharge opening, said housing having anupwardly-projecting, cylindrical snow conduit member attached theretoaround said opening and having a snow-directing spout with adownwardly-projecting, cylindrical collar member swivellingly attachedto said cylindrical snow conduit member, an annular supporting elementsurrounding the exterior of said upwardly-projecting snow conduitmember, said downwardly-projecting collar member being larger than theupwardly-projecting cylindrical conduit member and overlapping thelatter for a substantial distance, and there being an annular spacebetween the overlapping members accessible at the upper end of said snowconduit member, means at the lower end of said downwardly-projectingcollar member for coaction with said annular supporting element forswivellingly supporting the downwardly-projecting collar member thereon,said annular supporting element being located between the overlappingmembers, and a plurality of spacing elements between the overlappingportions of said collar member and conduit member located above saidannular supporting element, said spacing elements being carried by oneof said overlapping members and being separated axially and laterallyfrom one another to maintain the spacing throughout the length of theoverlap between said overlapping portions, and said spacing elementsbeing of such size as to space the collar member sufficiently far I fromthe conduit member to prevent particulate matter which may enter saidannular space from interfering with the rotatability of said collarmember and of the snow-directing spout attached thereto, the annularsupporting element which is on the upwardly-projecting cylindricalmember being an annular ring, and the cooperating support at the lowerend of the'downwardlyprojecting collar member being a skirt having anannular shoulder portion seated on said ring, there being means carriedby said skirt and engageable beneath said ring for detachably connectingthe downwardlyprojecting collar around the snow conduit member forswivelling movement therearound, and the ring having a gap thereinthrough which particulate matter which has entered said annular spacebetween the snow conduit member and the downwardlyprojecting collarmember may escape.

1. In a snow thrower of the type having a horizontal auger housingprovided with a top snow discharging opening, said housing having acylindrical snow conduit attached thereto around said opening and havinga snow-directing spout with a downwardly projecting cylindrical collarswivelingly attached around said cylindrical snow conduit, and having aspindle rotatably mounted on said housing and having spaced cableportions wound in opposite directions on said spindle and extending indiverging relationship therefrom to pass around said cylindrical collarfor swiveling the latter in response to rotation of the spindle, theimprovement comprising a control member including a pair of spacedparallel arms adjacent to said spindle positioned so that said spacedcable portions pass between said parallel arms, said control memberbeing mounted for movement parallel to the axis of the spindle inresponse to winding of said cable around said spindle to control saidwinding.
 2. A snow thrower as defined in claim 1 wherein said spindle isrotatably mounted in a spindle housing which is attached to saidhorizontal auger housing, said spindle housing being open on one sideand closed on the other side, there being a plurality of slots cut insaid spindle housing near the open side thereof for receiving andguiding said spaced parallel arms, said spaced parallel arms beingmovably engaged in said slots, and said slots being orientedsubstantially parallel with the axis of said spindle.
 3. A snow throweras defined in claim 2 wherein said spaced parallel arms comprise theparallel arm portions of a U-shaped member, the ends of said U-shapedmember being threaded to receive nuts, the threaded ends of saidU-shaped member being engaged in two of said slots, a nut screwed ontoeach threaded end of said U-shaped member, and said nuts beingpretensioned to provide a predetermined amount of drag to the movementof said parallel arms within said slots.
 4. A snow thrower as defined inclaim 3 and further comprising a tie bar extending between the threadedends of said U-shaped member and positioned between said nuts and theexterior surface of said spindle housing, said tie bar being pressedagainst the exterior surface of said spindle housing by said nuts so asto provide a predetermined amount of drag to the movement of saidparallel arms within said slots.
 5. In a snow thrower of the type havinga horizontal auger housing provided with a top snow discharge opening,said housing having an upwardly-projecting, cylindrical snow conduitmember attached thereto around said opening and having a snow-directingspout with a downwardly-projecting, cylindrical collar memberswivellingly attached to said cylindrical snow conduit member, anannular supporting element surrounding the exterior of saidupwardly-projecting snow conduit member, said downwardly-projectingcollar member being larger than the upwardly-projecting cylindricalconduit member and overlapping the latter for a substantial distance,and there being an annular space between the overlapping membersaccessible at the upper end of said snow conduit member, means at thelower end of said downwardly-projecting collar member for coaction withsaid annular supporting element for swivellingly supporting thedownwardly-projecting collar member thereon, said annular supportingelement being located between the overlapping members, and a pluralityof Spacing elements between the overlapping portions of said collarmember and conduit member located above said annular supporting element,said spacing elements being carried by one of said overlapping membersand being separated axially and laterally from one another to maintainthe spacing throughout the length of the overlap between saidoverlapping portions, and said spacing elements being of such size as tospace the collar member sufficiently far from the conduit member toprevent particulate matter which may enter said annular space frominterfering with the rotatability of said collar member and of thesnow-directing spout attached thereto, the annular supporting elementwhich is on the upwardly-projecting cylindrical member being an annularring, and the cooperating support at the lower end of thedownwardly-projecting collar member being a skirt having an annularshoulder portion seated on said ring, there being means carried by saidskirt and engageable beneath said ring for detachably connecting thedownwardly-projecting collar around the snow conduit member forswivelling movement therearound, and the ring having a gap thereinthrough which particulate matter which has entered said annular spacebetween the snow conduit member and the downwardly-projecting collarmember may escape.